MINNEAPOLIS -- Litchfield is sending eight swimmers to the Class A state meet which opens todayday with diving preliminaries at the University of Minnesota's Aquatics Center.
Dragons' freshman Mar-issa Warren will swim in four events, including a No. 1 seed in the 100 butterfly.
Willmar got one qualifier through the section meet at Hutchinson. Cassie Yoakum, a senior, will compete in the backstroke. She is seeded 25th out of 28 entries in a time of 1:04.06.
Class A preliminaries begin at noon Friday. Championship and consolation finals start at noon Saturday.
The Dragons are sending foursomes in all three relays. The 200-medley relay, with a seed time of 1:54.1, is in contention to reach the championship heat. The 200-free relay, seeded at 1:42.79, is a solid contender for the consolation heat. The 400-free unit will need a good race to stay alive and compete Saturday in consolation.
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At the Section 3A meet, Warren, who will swim in the first two of those relays, beat out Hutchinson senior Audrey Kumm, a two-time state champion in the butterfly, in the Tigers' pool.
Warren is seeded at 57.95 and Kumm next at 57.96.
The Litchfield freshman is a medal contender in the backstroke where her section time of 1:01.84 ranks seventh best.
Sartell is the defending champion in Class A and Stillwater in AA.
Sartell's Marisa Wood is the top qualifier in the 500-free (5:03.41) aiming for a fourth championship in the distance event though she is only a sophomore.
